Author(s): SAKAMOTO, J., TOMIISHI, C., TANIGUCHI, S., SAEKI, R., KAMIUCHI, S., FURUKAWA H., KUSANO, K., ICHIKAWA, M., GOTO, K., Institution: RITSUMEIKAN UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1794

INTRODUCTION:
Mental health and sleep quality are decreased in middle-aged adults compared with younger populations (Corbo et al., 2023). Regular exercise is widely known to improve mental health and sleep quality, and fast walking (FW) has been increasing attention as a practical procedure because of high adherence, physiological benefits (Makino et al., 2023), and safety. However, the effects of long-term FW on mental health and sleep quality in middle-aged adults remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of long-term FW on mental health and sleep quality in middle-aged adults.
METHODS:
Thiry-five healthy middle-aged adults without involving regular exercise participated into a 10-week intervention. They were divided into two groups: either FW group (n=23, 52.9 ± 3.7 yrs) or control (CON) group (n=12, 53.3 ± 5.5 yrs). FW group performed 20–30 min of FW (4 times/wk), while CON group maintained usual lifestyle without performing FW. Mental health (CES-D [an indicator of depression], DASS-21 [indicators of depression, stress, anxiety], SF8 [health related QOL]), subjective sleep quality (PSQI) and objective sleep quality (sleep latency [min], sleep quality [%], wake after sleep onset [WASO; min], total sleep time [min], REM sleep time [%], Non-REM sleep time 1~3 [NREM 1~3; %]) assessed by electroencephalography [EEG]) were evaluated before and after the intervention.
RESULTS:
Average walking velocity during FW was 6.8 ± 0.7 km/h, and the average duration was 24.3 ± 3.3 min. After the intervention, FW group did not show significant changes in any sleep indicators, including PSQI (pre 5.2 ± 2.1, post 5.3 ± 2.1), sleep latency (pre 14.1 ± 8.1, post 17.6 ± 10.3min), sleep efficiency (pre 92.1 ± 4.5, post 91.1 ± 3.2%), TST (pre 359.3 ± 60.2, post 347.7 ± 50.4min), WASO (pre 9.2 ± 8.5, post 11.6 ± 9.8min), REM sleep time (pre 28.2 ± 6.3, post 25.8 ± 7.3%), and time of NREM 3 (pre 20.8 ± 9.9, post 20.7 ± 10.7%). In addition, mental health indicators did not change significantly after the intervention (CES-D [pre 7.2 ± 4.7, post 7.3 ± 4.8], DASS-D [pre 1.9 ± 2.5, post 1.8 ± 1.7], DASS-A [pre 1.2 ± 1.4, post 0.7 ± 0.9], DASS-S [pre 2.9 ± 3.1, post 2.5 ± 2.2], and SF-8). Also, CON group did not show significant changes in any indicators.
CONCLUSION:
FW was previously performed at 6.0–6.5 km/h (Murtagh et al., 2002). Therefore, the walking speed in the present study (6.8 km/h) was thought to be sufficient for improving physical fitness. A plausible reason for lack of improvements of sleep quality and mental health may be sufficient baseline levels (before intervention) of these parameters among the present participants. 10 weeks of FW did not change mental health or sleep quality in middle-aged adults.